Papal tribute to motherhood at general audience

January 07, 2015

Continuing his catechesis on the family, Pope Francis devoted his January 7 general audience to motherhood.

Noting that no Christian is an orphan because the Church is our mother, the Pontiff said that “for all our symbolic glorification of mothers, their important contribution to the life of society, their daily sacrifices and their aspirations are not always properly appreciated,” according to a Vatican Radio summary of his remarks.

Mothers “are an antidote to the spread of self-centeredness, a decline in openness, generosity and concern for others,” he said.

As “witnesses of tenderness, dedication and moral strength,” mothers pass on to their children “the deep sense of the practice of religion, the first prayers, the first gestures of devotion.” Without mothers, “not only there would be no new faithful, but faith itself would lose a good part of its simple and profound warmth.”

 

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Further information:

• Pope thanks mothers for their precious role (Vatican Radio)